Ten Highland Lakes Sports Insights

CAPTON: Marble Falls ninth-grade linemen are going through drills with defensive line coach Karl “Beef” Bielfeldt. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro

It’s the eve of the most exciting time of the new sports year. Football is back. As we move forward into August — where fans’ optimism is very high — let’s take a look at some developing storylines in the Highland Lakes.

1. The team that has the most depth? Easily the Llano Yellow Jackets. And that’s because the Jackets have several luxury rooms throughout the program at quarterback, receiver and linemen. Their depth at quarterback is especially impressive considering there’s not a drop-off when senior Grayson Lilie takes over for QB1 Luke Davis, who is entering his third year as the starter. What that means is Llano keeps moving the chains, no matter who the signal caller is, and that’s a credit to those offensive coaches led by head coach Matt Green, who is the quarterbacks coach, offensive coordinator Ryan Priem, who coaches the running backs, and special teams coordinator Robbie Coplin, who is the receivers coach. Colton Center takes over as the offensive line coach, but don’t anticipate a setback. Center has been a Llano Independent School District coach at his alma mater for a good while and worked closely with this staff just as long. Green wouldn’t have promoted him if the head coach didn’t think he was ready, and Center is part of a great opportunity because of the chemistry in the offensive coaches’ office. That means those coaches collaborate quite a bit on scheme, plays and wrinkles. They also know their personnel incredibly well. Not anticipating a drop here at all this season.
2. The other side of the ball for Llano is intriguing because of the change at coordinator. Matt Anastasio retired at the end of the 2024-25 school year. Former Mason High School head coach Michael McLeod takes over that role. Green and McLeod mirror each other in a couple of ways. Green was a Brownwood High and Howard Payne University quarterback and pitcher, while McLeod was a defensive back at Mason and at Angelo State University. The Llano staff knows McLeod well because of the home-and-home scrimmages between the Jackets and the Mason Punchers each August and the track teams attend each other’s home meets in the spring. But more importantly than the background of the two men is that they share the same philosophies when it comes to how they coach their players, how they communicate with their players, and how they communicate with their colleagues. Both are family men, whose wives and children are at games and are the first to find them once the contest ends. And like the Llano staff, McLeod is a proven winner. At Mason, he coached in three state championships, winning it all in 2018 when he was the defensive coordinator. While the way Llano plays defense may change, what won’t change is how the Jackets prepare. Part of what made Anastasio’s defenses terrific is that when the Jackets had to protect a lead and the game was on the line, Anastasio had built up his defenders to want to be on the field to close out the opponent. McLeod coordinates his defenses to have that same mindset.
3. The Jackets will rely on some new starters on the offensive line. But coaches are optimistic they’ll gel and produce when the time comes. The start of the schedule is nice. Llano hosts Lytle and Comanche before going to Marble Falls in week three. After the loss to Comanche 34-21 last year, Llano won 11 consecutive games including against the Mustangs and Jarrell by a touchdown each. This year Universal City Randolph, which was hit hard by graduation, comes to Llano Stadium. Perhaps the district’s most dangerous offensive player — Ingram Tom Moore’s Kye Hightower — is graduated. The district opponents will be improved, but the Jackets will be up for the task. The Llano varsity wasn’t the only football team to win a district title last season. All these Jackets know how to do is be victorious. But their coaches will demand they put in the work to be great.
4. The team that is the most fascinating? The Burnet Bulldogs. Simply, their skill personnel on both sides of the ball work. Receiver Matthew Williams has a great chance at turning a lot of heads because of his quick feet, leaping ability and sure hands. Senior tight ends Riley Howell and Demetrius Taliaferro will give offensive coordinator Colton Brewer more options on running and passing plays. While the Bulldogs haven’t officially announced the starting quarterback for 2025, there’s little doubt Charles Edwards and Cohen Jorpeland will play quite a bit. Jorpeland might be the new Grant Jones — the Gadget Bulldog whose natural ability to throw, run and catch gives Burnet a weapon that’s difficult to defend. But that may be a step too far for the Burnet staff. Simply, I’m writing what I saw the last couple of months on Monday evenings. That said, the last time the Bulldogs had a quarterback competition, the staff didn’t name a starter for week one. Instead, coaches played them both believing their performances would reveal the starter. And they were right. Don’t be surprised if the staff follows the same formula.
5. Five of the Bulldogs’ six non-district opponents advanced to the playoffs. While none won a district title, Lago Vista and Gatesville each won two postseason games. Fredericksburg and Lago Vista each finished second in their districts, while Gatesville finished third and Little River Academy (2-9, 2-3) and San Angelo Lake View (2-9, 0-3) were fourth in their districts. San Angelo Lake View is one of four teams in District 3-4A Division I.
6. The Marble Falls Mustangs will play in head coach Keri Timmerman’s version of the spread offense for a second year. Like the Bulldogs, the Mustangs are having their own quarterback battle. Senior Atreyu Machacek and sophomore Crawford Maddox have taken all the snaps in the 7-on-7 contests I’ve watched the last couple of months. Both are good athletes and played significant roles for the baseball team that finished third in the District 24-4A race and lost to China Spring in a best-of-three bi-district series. Athletic ability isn’t in question here. The Mustangs are simply experiencing the growing pains of learning a completely different scheme from the slot-T offense they played in from 2019-23. Last year while attending a Mustangs practice, a retired coach came to experience the feeling once more of being on a sideline. He watched the players and coaches go through the playbook and said something that has stayed with me almost a year later. “It’s takes two years to get into the slot-T (offense) and two years to get out of it,” he said.
7. A couple of things didn’t help the Mustangs either. Top of the list was the non-district schedule. Marble Falls’ two wins were against opponents — Austin Crockett and San Antonio Brackenridge — that went 0-10 on the season. Jarrell, which beat the Mustangs 21-14, finished the season 6-4 and 3-3 in district play for fifth place. Devine, which defeated Marble Falls 28-27, went 8-3 and 3-1 in district only to lose in the bi-district game to Salado. La Vernia, which won 34-14, finished 11-4 and 3-2 in district play to finish third. But the Bears went 4-1 in the playoffs and reached the state semifinals. Llano, which won 20-13, went 12-2 on the season including a 5-0 mark to be the district champions and reach the regional final. The other thing that didn’t help? The district itself that features Stephenville, Lampasas, Brownwood and Burnet.
8. Still, there’s optimism. And that’s because of a freshman class, of which Crawford is a member, that started the season with some big wins in non-district play. Couple that with a pair of freshman quarterbacks in Gage Goebel, son of former NFL and Baylor University quarterback Brad Goebel, and Drew Whittle, son of Marble Falls legacy Stan Whittle, and seventh grade quarterback Charles Wood, who has played the position for his Marble Falls Youth Football and Cheer team the last several years, and the Mustangs are showing they have options at what is the toughest position in all of sports to play. The three along with a couple more were with Timmerman performing quarterback drills during the Mustang Football Camp last week. There’s no way around it. To be great in this position requires committed players. Just like the top pitchers are throwing daily and the best basketball players are in the gym shooting jumpers, quarterbacks are working on their footwork, mechanics and delivery and typically on a daily basis. Goebel, Whittle and Wood put in the time the position requires to be great at it.
9. The other Highland Lakes football team is the Faith Academy Flames. Like Llano, the Flames have a couple of solid signal callers in senior Drew Houy and sophomore Landon Silvers, head coach Jay Silvers’ son. After the Flames defeated San Marcos Academy 40-33 and Bulverde Bracken on the road 68-62 on a short week, they closed out San Antonio Lutheran for the district title. But they lost at home to Lucas Christian Academy in the playoffs. The loss, which happened during a windy, chilly night, was surprising because the Flames had played so well leading up to that outcome. Still, the Flames have used that disappointment to fuel themselves in the offseason. They got faster and stronger.
10. Are they more determined? Jay Silvers says yes. And he based that not on what he’s hearing from his players but what he is seeing. Of the 23 players projected to be in the high school program this fall, an average of 17 of them attended summer strength and conditioning. And just like their neighbors in the region, coaches made sure the work wasn’t easy. The weight lifting sessions were strenuous and the agility and speed drills were tiring. And yet, they still came back for more, Silvers said. That kind of commitment is why he believes the Flames have a shot at obtaining all their goals, including a long postseason run.